


triangles have three sides

by tusktooth



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, M/M, Magic, Miscommunication, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tusktooth/pseuds/tusktooth
Summary: Though she and Essek had both been seeing Caleb for a while, Jester couldn't shake the feeling that Essek had a distaste for her.
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Jester Lavorre & Essek Thelyss, Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 7
Kudos: 89
Collections: Critmas Exchange 2019





	triangles have three sides

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grandfatherclock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grandfatherclock/gifts).



> hello [A.K.](https://widojenda.tumblr.com/)!!! i'm your secret santa for the critmas exchange this year!!! when i saw your list of pairings i'll admit this wasn't originally the one i would have chosen but then i read your dear critter letter and it really spoke to me! so i wanted to write something about jester and essek having a meaningful conversation and being friends. i really hope that you like this fic and have a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you might celebrate!!!

Loving Caleb Widogast was never something that Jester planned on doing. He was insecure and closed-off and came with a  _ lot  _ of baggage. But that didn’t really matter to Jester, in the end, because Caleb’s heart was a lot bigger than he thought it was and he truly loved Jester as she was despite her lack of experience in the world and the quirks that she was proud of but others were quick to dismiss.

Caleb’s heart was big enough for two people. Before she and Caleb had officially gotten together, he was already with Essek. When the time came where Caleb and Jester’s relationship started developing and undeniable feelings were there, the two of them had discussed it and they decided it was okay if Caleb were to be in a relationship with both Jester and Essek, even if they had no interest in each other.

And Jester was happy with this, for a time.

She loved Caleb and it didn’t matter if he loved more than just her. Being in love with two people didn’t make his love for either of them less strong.

No, the problem wasn’t with Caleb, but with Essek. When she first met him, she was quite charmed. He was attractive and elegant and seemed so sure in himself. She wanted to be his friend and she enjoyed sending him messages, even if they only were when they needed him.

Over time, he seemed to grow weary of the group, bar Caleb. Jester especially. Though he was never outright mean to her, sometimes it seemed that he didn’t care to have her around. She didn’t know if this was because he regretted allowing Caleb to be with more than himself or if he just didn’t like her as a person. She didn’t know which option was worse. On one hand, if he asked Caleb to return to a monogamous relationship, she had no idea what he would do. If he just didn’t like her, well, Jester was still learning who she was as a person and she knew it was okay not to be liked by everyone, but it still hurt nonetheless.

It was something that she tried to ignore, even if it hurt. She didn’t talk to Caleb about it because she didn’t want to bring the problem to him. She couldn’t talk to Essek about it because she doubted that he’d be forthright. Normally she would talk to Beau or Nott, but Beau was in Zadash now as a higher up in the Cobalt Soul and Nott was with her family in their new Nicodranas home. Caduceus and Fjord were far away too, what with repairing the damage to the Blooming Grove brought on by abyssal corruption. Yasha was with them too, having become good friends with Caduceus during their time together and wanting to help despite being loyal to another god.

So instead she just had to deal with it. Well, that wasn’t completely true. She spoke about it to the Traveler often and in detail but, although he was very powerful and the coolest, he wasn’t close enough to the situation to come up with a concrete answer. That was alright, though, because the Traveler was still the best god ever.

It wasn’t until Caleb was gone for a week, headed to Rexxentrum to assist in dismantling the Cerberus Assembly and replace it with something more functional and open, that the situation truly reared its head.

Jester was a social person and being alone in a house with somebody that you didn’t speak with was difficult. It was bearable for the first day or so since she spent her days building the second official temple to the Traveler in Rosohna, the first having been constructed in Nicodranas in the previous months. She had other worshippers, mostly new recruits, to speak to and tasks to complete. But when she came home and there was nobody to talk to, it was quite difficult.

It was on the third day that she decided to at least attempt to communicate with Essek. She found him in the study which was wholly unsurprising as that was the place that he seemed to spend a decent chunk of his free time.

“Do you need something?” he asked, not looking up from the book in his hands.

“No,” she replied, teetering from foot to foot. “I was just bored, I guess.”

“You’re in the capital of Xhorhas, I’m certain you can find something to do,” he said as he flipped the page.

Fuck it. She was just going to go for it. “Why don’t you like me? Is it because Caleb loves us both? Because I thought that wasn’t a problem but if it is we should totally talk about it or something.”

This time, he looked up at her, surprise strewn across his face. “Of course that isn’t a problem. I’m happy that he has you just as much as I’m happy to be with him myself. And I don’t dislike you. Why do you think that?”

“It’s just that you like never talk to me,” she said, looking firmly down to her feet. “And I think you’re  _ super cool _ but you’re always cold and you ignore me and you think I’m not very powerful.”

“In truth, the reason I don’t speak to you much is I didn’t know you had any desire to speak with me,” he told her. “I mean, most of the time you don’t talk to me at all unless you need something. And, for the record, you are very powerful, Jester. Just because your magical talents are of a different variety than mine and Caleb’s doesn’t mean the power you have is any less strong.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because it’s okay if you don’t like me. I know I can be a lot sometimes.”

“I like you, Jester,” he assured her. “I think you’re funny and kind and, despite what you might think, quite the adept leader. Also, you make Caleb happy, and that’s a wonderful way to get my approval. I’d be glad to have a friend like you.”

“I want to be friends too, Essek!” she said.

“Would you like to study with me?” he asked. “Perhaps learn a spell related to the talents of myself and Caleb?”

“But I’m not good at that,” she replied, deflating a bit. “I can’t understand the runes, remember? I’m not very smart.”

He shook his head and grabbed a book off the end of the table. “We’ll start with something easy. I assure you that you’re smart enough to learn this.”

“Okay,” she said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to him. “What are we going to learn?”

“It’s a spell that allows you to understand any language that’s spoken to you or that you read, given that you touch the surface on which the text is written,” he explained. “Is this something that you’re familiar with?”

She nodded. “Caleb has used it a bunch of times.”

“Perfect,” he said, pushing the book toward her and pointing to a spot on the page. “Read over this. I need to grab the materials quickly and then I can teach you the words and movements.”

After a few minutes of reading, Essek returned with salt from the kitchen and a bit of soot out of the fireplace. He went about explaining the movements and the words to her. She found it surprisingly easy to follow. Perhaps she had picked up more from Caleb in passing than she knew. Sure, it was an easy spell, but she was no wizard and she could understand it. It gave her the confidence that she could become a wizard if she truly set her mind to it, though she never would be because the Traveler always came first.

“There are my two favorite people in Wildemount,” said a voice from behind them in a thick Zemnian accent.

She whipped around with a smile. “Caleb! I thought you weren’t supposed to be home for like four more days.”

He shrugged. “I missed the two of you.”

“ _ Caleb _ , that’s so-” she began, before noticing the edges of his lips curve into a smile.

“Has someone taught you to be funny?” Essek asked with an amused smirk.

“I’ve spent enough time around Nott to learn a thing or two,” he replied, pulling up a chair and sitting at the table between them, accepting a quick kiss to the cheek from Jester. “I thought they would need me there longer. Instead, they just ask that I return in a week for a day or two to review the plan they are putting into place and make amendments. We intend to turn what was once the assembly into a council of sorts consisting of powerful mages across Wildemount who are willing to lend their talent to educating young wizards. It is all very exciting.”

Essek hummed and reached up to tuck a strand of Caleb’s hair behind his ear. “Sound like it.”

“I trust you two have been busy over the last few days?” he asked. “What with the temple and building the alliance between the Dynasty and the Empire.”

“We’ve both been quite busy,” Essek replied. “But Jester and I have still made the best of our free time.”

“It’s true!” she exclaimed. “Caleb, say something in Zemnian.”

He raised an eyebrow but complied. “You’re beautiful,” he said, mouth moving in a way that didn’t match the words.

“Aww thank you, Caleb,” she said, snuggling into his side. “You’re beautiful too.”

He looked at her in surprise for a moment before taking in the soot and salt on the table and turning to Essek. “You’ve taught her Comprehend Languages?”

Essek shrugged. “The thought that people who talk a lot cannot listen is pure nonsense. Jester is an excellent student. Better, perhaps, than you since she’s far more patient with this kind of thing.”

His gaze darted between them. “Is there chemistry in the air? Because while I cannot say that I expected something to develop between the two of you, I would be happy whether or not something happened.”

Essek looked to her with a smile. “Nothing like that. Just friends.”

She smiled back at him. “ _ Great _ friends.”


End file.
